Accellion introduces new secure collaboration worktool

Leading enterprise solutions company Accellion has announced its new collaboration tool which it says meets the growing demand from businesses for a secure and easy-to-use workspace.

Accellion Secure Collaboration is an expansion of the US company’s existing secure file transfer and collaboration solutions, which chief marketing officer Paula Skokowski said will appeal to businesses concerned about enterprise security, compliance and business productivity.

“In the last two years, the need for secure solutions for personable, identifiable information and intellectual property has really come on strong – whether it’s government, healthcare, finance or legal data,” she told E&T.

“We have been providing secure file transfer solutions but we have recognised that the market is evolving and people have moved on from emailing documents to using file transfer solutions like Sharepoint, Google Docs and Box.net.”

Accellion, headquartered in Palo Alto in California, supplies enterprise solutions to corporations and government agencies around the world, with clients in the UK including Hit Entertainment, KPMG, HM Revenue & Customs and the Metropolitan Police.

Ms Skokowski explained that Accellion had already received "great feedback" from existing customers who had used the secure workspace solution during the alpha testing phase over the last six months.

She attributed this to the product offering advantages over existing free drop-box solutions with features including secure access to the workspace from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, and the reduction of company IT support due to self-provision for internal and external users who can register themselves on the system.

Unlike internal collaboration tools which can create a security loophole when information needs to be shared externally, the Accellion product is a stand-alone solution where everything is tracked and reported centrally within the system, ensuring data security.

Users can also exchange comments, track file versions and receive notifications when collaborators make changes, allowing projects to be turned around more quickly and improving business productivity.

Another key feature is that unlike FTP servers where shared data can be left for years after they are used which increases risk to data security, the Accellion product has an automated file clean-up function, further ensuring enterprise security and compliance.

"A collaboration solution has to be easy to use so we have made it very user friendly with a very intuitive design, as well as focusing on ease of deployment in terms of flexibility and scalability - Accellion is also unique among solutions as it offers the ability for private, public and hybrid cloud deployment," Ms Skokowski said.

Accellion expects to attract major new clients who might be introduced to the product while collaborating with its existing customer base.

This includes HIT Entertainment, responsible for top children's TV shows like Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine and Fireman Sam.

Senior manager of global infrastructure James Herbert said the company used Accellion to keep close tabs on those receiving digital files due to its “pressing need” to protect its intellectual property.

“The control is important to us - if we send files to someone, we want to know that they can’t forward those files to other people,” he explained.

“Adding collaboration features while maintaining control over our intellectual property is just what Bob, Thomas and Sam need.”

For more information on the Accellion Secure Collaboration or other products visit www.accellion.com